Sonny Miller is tired of not knowing who she is. Soon she’ll begin graduate school to earn her masters in Psychology. But how can she counsel future clients about their identities when she isn’t even sure about her own? To that end she has cooked up a little meeting at a certain beach house in San Diego.
Sonny’s mother, classical soprano Teresa Miller, isn’t aware she’s about to be reunited at the beach house with her sister, Melanie Hines, after 25 years of estrangement. And Sonny isn’t aware her mother has invited a surprise guest of her own. Russian adoptee, Irina Petrova, finds herself dragged along on a trip so tumultuous she summons her handsome concert violinist brother for moral support.
The four women converge on the funky little beach house in San Diego, each with her own disappointments and hopes about family, identity, and love. For Sonny, the trip reveals all she expected and more than she ever dreamed.
When I signed up to review Sunset Beach by Trish Perry, I was excited because I’d read two other books by her and loved them. I remember laughing out loud more than once while reading them. And you know how I like the funny.
When I received the book in the mail, I started wondering if it would be as good. After all, the cover art may not be worse than Perry’s earlier books, but it was certainly different. And not really my style, to be honest.
Then I started reading the book. And I noticed that the author was using multiple points of view (POV), a writing style that I’ve been learning about in my never-ending (seriously, who knew I had so much to learn?) research into the world of writing, editing and publishing.
And I decided I didn’t like multiple POVs.
But I kept plugging along, partly because I’d signed up to read the book and couldn’t back out on that commitment, partly because I’m weird that way and just can’t stop reading a book in the middle.
I’m so glad I kept reading. Eventually, I realized that the only reason I was stuck on the different points of view was because I was seeing the story from the perspective of three different women – whereas the books I normally read focus on a man and a woman. (Yes, I like romance. Sue me.) Once I got that figured out, I felt much more comfortable.
Plus, I decided that I’m nowhere near an editing expert yet, so I’d better leave the point of view critiquing to the experts.
To sum up my long story, I liked Sunset Beach. I think certain Iowan friends – and those who love them – would like it because despite the duplicitous premise of the book’s plot, the characters were actually upfront and forthright with each other. At least, more so than characters are in most books in this genre.
If you’d like to get your own copy of Sunset Beach by Trish Perry, you’re in luck. It came out last month, and you can get it at your local Amazon store. (Just kidding. I know Amazon isn’t local. Ha!)
And in case you’d like to read other books by Trish Perry – funny ones with sweet stories – check out Too Good to Be True and The Guy I’m Not Dating.
Now, because I’m a giver, here are a few questions answered by Ms. Trish Perry herself. (And for more information about Trish, visit her website!)
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
Well, hands down, I’d have to be able to teleport. Frankly, I’d travel a lot more if it weren’t for airports! I would have chosen the superpower of flying, but who wants to carry all that luggage in the air? If I could teleport, I could have my luggage in my circle of teleportability (you have heard of those, yes?), and it would teleport with me, free of luggage searches and additional-baggage fees.
What has God been teaching you lately?
I’ve been blown away by how clearly He forgives my weaknesses. Things have occurred in my life over the past 18 months for which (right or wrong) I carried a burden of guilt. You know, that feeling of “how did I contribute to this mess?” Yet He has blessed me so abundantly in the midst of my feelings of conviction, that He amazes me daily with His obvious love. The blessings keep me humbly aware of how much I need Him. And they instill in me such a strong desire to serve Him and to follow His guidance and will.
What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most?
I love writing dialogue. What a control freak’s dream, to have control over what everyone says, including the antagonist. If only life were that easy, LOL! But truly, sometimes a scene simply shapes itself right before my eyes when the characters are engaged in dialogue. I don’t know quite what will be expressed sometimes, and I love it when it flows even faster than I seem to be able to think it.
When you write do you generally know where you’re headed or are you sometimes as surprised as your characters about the way things end?
There is always surprise, no matter how well I plan out a book’s progress. I was just talking with my editor about that the other day, the fact that the initial summary I write might change a bit as events unfold around my protagonist. I think that’s happened with every book I’ve written. I typically write a summary, which tells me generally where the story will go, and then I write a sentence or two per chapter idea, and then I start hammering away on Chapter One. As I write actual chapters, the events between “Once upon a time” and “The End” evolve in more significant ways than I expected in the first place. It’s an exciting process!
What would you say to someone who wants to become a published author?
Give the endeavor to God first. And daily. When doubts arise (and they will), you must be able to fall back on the knowledge that your efforts are for Him. And know that He will never show you the way by crushing your efforts with rejection and desolation. If He wants you to do something other than writing, He’ll lovingly draw you to that other endeavor.
That said, take all the practical steps to learn the craft and the business. Read (both how-to’s and novels), write, network, and submit. Over and over again.
Where did you get the idea for the book?
The setting (the funky little house on Mission Beach) and time frame (one or two weeks’ time) were already established for me by my publisher. All of the books in The Beach House series fall within those parameters. But the characters and their stories formulated over time. First I dreamed up Sonny—a young woman who had lived her entire life devoid of details about her family background, thanks to her secretive mother. Sonny had reached a point where she wanted to take control of her own life. Her mother was the barrier to that, so Sonny needed to both go around her mother and barrel headlong towards her. The hidden details about Sonny’s past arose as I created each new character. Even though my own family is close and forthcoming about our family history, there have always been fuzzy areas about which I’ve wanted to know more. I imagined how difficult it would be if your entire family history were fuzzy. I know I’d be compelled to act as Sonny did.
What are the major themes of the book?
My books always end up having a broad overall theme of the importance of seeking God’s guidance in everything. That’s never been deliberate—that’s just the way my stories work out. But for Sunset Beach, the most important theme entails our personal identities and how we determine them. Upon whom, or what, do we base our beliefs about who we are, what we’re worth, what our purpose in life is? A subtheme in the book has to do with the struggle to approach romance and passion appropriately. I think that’s a tough one for every single person I know, and it brings us right back to that whole seeking-God’s-guidance-in-everything theme.
What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
First, I hope they’ll find the book entertaining. I want them to enjoy Sonny’s journey and the way her discoveries uncover secrets and feelings for the people around her. I hope they’ll be amused, but only when I mean them to be! On a grander scale, I hope readers will be touched by the whole issue of personal identity and how God factors into that. I never want to write a preachy book—but I certainly enjoy hearing when my books are inspiring. My prayer before every book I write is that God will give me the story someone somewhere needs to read in order to feel more of what He wants them to feel. Then I leave it up to Him.
Disclosure: I received my copy of this book free from the publisher, as part of a project with The Blog Tour Spot. However, for whatever it’s worth, I would have read it anyway, since I’ve read this author before and liked her. (Of course, I would have checked it out from the library, so I suppose that doesn’t really help the publisher anyway.)
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